All stories by Bob Verini on BroadwayStars

Sunday, August 1, 2021

From Boston: The Tempest, A Perfect Storm and a Perfect John Douglas Thompson by Bob Verini

★★★★★ Shakespeare's all-powerful sorcerer Prospero, driven near-mad, learns the power of redemption on Boston Common The post From Boston: The Tempest, A Perfect Storm and a Perfec…

SOURCE: New York Stage Review at 08:41PM
Thursday, April 8, 2021

John Cullum, An Accidental Star: Stardom No Accident by Bob Verini

★★★★☆ Legendary veteran of Broadway's Golden Age shares his career highs, though not the lows The post John Cullum, An Accidental Star: Stardom No Accident appeared first on New Yo…

SOURCE: New York Stage Review at 07:59PM
Monday, March 22, 2021

Middletown: Those Were the Days? Really? by Bob Verini

★★★☆☆ Dan Cleary’s salute to post-WWII Americana is sweet, sentimental, safe—and shallow The post Middletown: Those Were the Days? Really? appeared first on New York Stage Revi…

SOURCE: New York Stage Review at 07:58PM
Saturday, January 2, 2021

Ratatouille: The Rat In The Hat Strikes Back by Bob Verini

★★★★☆ The Tik Tok generation cooks up a streaming tribute to a Pixar classic of their youth The post Ratatouille: The Rat In The Hat Strikes Back appeared first on New York Stage R…

SOURCE: New York Stage Review at 08:26AM
Monday, December 14, 2020

This Is Who I Am: A Cup of Flour, a Pinch of Pain by Bob Verini

★★★★☆ A father and son prepare a real dish, while they really dish and heal The post This Is Who I Am: A Cup of Flour, a Pinch of Pain appeared first on New York Stage Review.

SOURCE: New York Stage Review at 01:30PM
Sunday, December 13, 2020

Taylor Mac’s Holiday Sauce…Pandemic!: ‘Tis The Season To Be Sassy by Bob Verini

★★★★☆ A self-described "holiday public access show on LSD" is more sentimental than subversive The post Taylor Mac’s Holiday Sauce…Pandemic!: ‘Tis The Season To Be Sassy app…

SOURCE: New York Stage Review at 06:22AM
Friday, October 23, 2020

Who’s Your Baghdaddy: Going to Iraq and Ruin by Bob Verini

★★★☆☆ Post-9/11 satire may or may not be your cuppa joe in the current moment, but streaming staging is something to see The post Who’s Your Baghdaddy: Going to Iraq and Ruin app…

SOURCE: New York Stage Review at 05:23PM
Sunday, September 13, 2020

Coastal Elites: Red Meat for Blue Staters by Bob Verini

★★★☆☆ Paul Rudnick's five Trump era monologues on HBO interrupt laughs with rage, and vice versa The post Coastal Elites: Red Meat for Blue Staters appeared first on New York Stage…

SOURCE: New York Stage Review at 09:59AM
Sunday, August 9, 2020

From Massachusetts: A Berkshire Godspell, Sharing and Caring Behind Masks by Bob Verini

★★★★☆ A COVID-safe retelling of the musical Jesus story maintains its social, but not its emotional, distance The post From Massachusetts: A Berkshire Godspell, Sharing and Caring …

SOURCE: New York Stage Review at 01:40PM
Monday, April 20, 2020

Intermission Talk: Buyer & Cellar Online—Sold! by Bob Verini

Performing Jonathan Tolins's Streisand-centric fable live and online, Michael Urie hits it out of the park The post Intermission Talk: Buyer & Cellar Online—Sold! appeared first on New…

SOURCE: New York Stage Review at 05:34PM
Monday, March 23, 2020

Intermission Talk: An Actors Fund Benefit, And Everything’s Coming Up Rosie by Bob Verini

The jolly tone and theater-centric focus of the old Rosie O'Donnell Show is charmingly recaptured on line for an awfully good cause. The post Intermission Talk: An Actors Fund Benefit, And E…

SOURCE: New York Stage Review at 11:01AM
Sunday, December 15, 2019

From Massachusetts: Moby-Dick, A Nantucket Sleigh Ride Of An Adventure by Bob Verini

★★★★ It has to be said: Dave Malloy’s Melville adaptation is a whale of a show The post From Massachusetts: Moby-Dick, A Nantucket Sleigh Ride Of An Adventure appeared first on New…

SOURCE: New York Stage Review at 08:01PM
Tuesday, November 26, 2019

From Boston: Quixote Nuevo, Modern-Day Man of La Plancha by Bob Verini

★★★ Octavio Solis's modern-day take on Don Quixote taps into the current crisis along the U.S./Mexico border The post From Boston: Quixote Nuevo, Modern-Day Man of La Plancha appeared …

SOURCE: New York Stage Review at 01:00PM
Wednesday, November 20, 2019

A Christmas Carol: God Blast Ye, Merry Gentlemen by Bob Verini

★★★★ Jack Thorne, Matthew Warchus, and Charles Dickens insist that we Scrooges mend our selfish ways, with joyful stagecraft to pull us along The post A Christmas Carol: God Blast Ye…

SOURCE: New York Stage Review at 09:46PM
Thursday, September 19, 2019

From Providence: Its Prince Proves a Pretender by Bob Verini

★★ A city celebrates its legendary political rascal, leaving open why he should matter to the rest of us The post From Providence: Its Prince Proves a Pretender appeared first on New Yor…

SOURCE: New York Stage Review at 03:00PM
Sunday, September 15, 2019

From Boston: The Purists (and Director Billy Porter) Keep It Real by Bob Verini

★★★★ A Sunnyside, Queens stoop is the unlikely setting for a thrilling affirmation of how we can learn to get along The post From Boston: The Purists (and Director Billy Porter) Keep…

SOURCE: New York Stage Review at 08:30PM
Sunday, August 25, 2019

From Massachusetts: The Joy of Six by Bob Verini

★★★★★ The “Divorced, Beheaded, Live” tryout tour of Henry VIII’s wives makes a turbocharged Cambridge stop The post From Massachusetts: The Joy of Six appeared first on New Y…

SOURCE: New York Stage Review at 08:05PM
Thursday, August 22, 2019

From Massachusetts: Fall Springs, A Fracking Good Time by Bob Verini

★★★ Stale environmental satire is offset by sprightly songs and a swell cast at Barrington Stage The post From Massachusetts: Fall Springs, A Fracking Good Time appeared first on New Y…

SOURCE: New York Stage Review at 03:00PM
Monday, August 12, 2019

From Williamstown: Ghosts and Before the Meeting by Bob Verini

At Williamstown, an O.K. revival and a superior modern premiere explore humanity at lowest ebb. The post From Williamstown: Ghosts and Before the Meeting appeared first on New York Stage Rev…

SOURCE: New York Stage Review at 06:07PM
Monday, July 29, 2019

From Massachusetts: The Skin of Our Teeth and Tell Me I’m Not Crazy by Bob Verini

Two American dramedies, one classic and the other newly minted, affirm humanity’s indomitable ability to renew in the face of chaos. The post From Massachusetts: The Skin of Our Teeth and …

SOURCE: New York Stage Review at 12:00PM
Wednesday, July 24, 2019

From Massachusetts: Gertrude and Claudius’s Time Is Out of Joint by Bob Verini

★★ A Hamlet prequel out of a John Updike novel falls short of presaging the tragedy to follow The post From Massachusetts: Gertrude and Claudius’s Time Is Out of Joint appeared first o…

SOURCE: New York Stage Review at 12:00PM
Monday, July 22, 2019

From Connecticut: Because of Winn Dixie Is Not Arf Bad by Bob Verini

★★★★ A great doggie performer headlines a tuneful, kid-friendly morality tail (sic) The post From Connecticut: Because of Winn Dixie Is Not Arf Bad appeared first on New York Stage R…

SOURCE: New York Stage Review at 12:00PM
Sunday, July 7, 2019

Rock and Roll Man: Tutti-Frutti, Mostly Goodie by Bob Verini

★★★ Rock'n'roll is here to stay, though we learn little about the man who made it happen The post Rock and Roll Man: Tutti-Frutti, Mostly Goodie appeared first on New York Stage Review.

SOURCE: New York Stage Review at 07:00PM
Sunday, June 23, 2019

From Massachusetts: Into a Sondheim Woods and a Fascist America by Bob Verini

Two concurrent plays in the Berkshires examine the effect of fairy tales, whether on the body human or the body politic The post From Massachusetts: Into a Sondheim Woods and a Fascist Ameri…

SOURCE: New York Stage Review at 07:00PM
Tuesday, June 18, 2019

Yerma: Simmering When It Ought to Boil by Bob Verini

Garcia Lorca’s folk tragedy invokes earth, fire, and water, but gets mostly infused with air The post Yerma: Simmering When It Ought to Boil appeared first on New York Stage Review.

SOURCE: New York Stage Review at 12:00PM
Monday, May 27, 2019

The Flamingo Kid: Follow the Pink-and-Blue Road by Bob Verini

★★★ A sprightly, nostalgic musical of the 1960s sacrifices some of the stronger qualities of its cinematic source The post The Flamingo Kid: Follow the Pink-and-Blue Road appeared firs…

SOURCE: New York Stage Review at 02:00PM
Thursday, May 23, 2019

We Live in Cairo: An Arab-Spring Awakening by Bob Verini

★★★★ Two gifted first-timers, the Brothers Lazour, find melody and hope in recent historical events marked as much by defeat as by triumph The post We Live in Cairo: An Arab-Spring A…

SOURCE: New York Stage Review at 10:00PM
Friday, November 30, 2018

Man in the Ring: Forgiven for Killing, Condemned for Love by Bob Verini

★★★★ Shadow Box author shadow-boxes with charismatic real-life champ, wins on points The post Man in the Ring: Forgiven for Killing, Condemned for Love appeared first on New York Sta…

SOURCE: New York Stage Review at 02:18PM
Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Anastasia: Journey to the Musical Past by Bob Verini

★★★★ McNally, Ahrens and Flaherty ransack the operetta playbook, with pleasing results The post Anastasia: Journey to the Musical Past appeared first on New York Stage Review.

SOURCE: New York Stage Review at 03:50PM
Sunday, September 30, 2018

Man of La Mancha: Still True to Its Glorious Quest by Bob Verini

★★★★ Director Mark Lamos invests a musical theater perennial with novelty and life The post Man of La Mancha: Still True to Its Glorious Quest appeared first on New York Stage Review.

SOURCE: New York Stage Review at 08:01PM
Sunday, September 9, 2018

The Black Clown: Racial Pride Triumphant in Entertaining Showcase by Bob Verini

★★★★★ A classic poem becomes a stunning music theater piece celebrating identity and dignity in the face of oppression The post The Black Clown: Racial Pride Triumphant in Entertai…

SOURCE: New York Stage Review at 06:40PM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards